Batgirl: Leslie Grace Addresses J.K. Simmons Return Rumors

Earlier this year, In The Heights star Leslie Grace was officially cast as Barbara Gordon for the long in development Batgirl movie and with fans having waited for years for the beloved DC Comics character to get her own movie, fans are eagerly looking forward to finding out more details about what they can expect for when the film arrives on HBO Max in 2022. One of those details is who will play Barbara’s father, Commissioner Gordon and while previous reports have indicated that J.K. Simmons is in talks to reprise the role he last played in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Now, Grace is weighing in on the rumors herself – and she really hopes that Simmons will be the one to play Barbara’s father.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Grace was asked about Simmons and after saying she was “freaking out” about the possibility, said that she hoped he would be part of the movie because she was ready to learn a lot from the veteran actor.

“I’m ready to learn a lot from J.K. Simmons,” Grace said. “If you’re listening, huge respect, and please play my dad! I hope you’re my dad.”

When Simmons was originally cast as Commissioner Gordon in Justice League, he had signed on for three films. At the time that included a sequel to Justice League, but events didn’t quite work out as planned and the DCEU has begun to shift away from the so-called Snyderverse. However, Simmons has previously told ComicBook.com that he’d be open to reprising the role.

“Listen, I’m willing to look at anything in the future,” Simmons said. “I’m just glad that Zack was finally able to have his vision realized, and that it’s out there and people can see the movie that he hoped to make originally.”

As for Grace, she’s excited to take on Barbara and said in doing her research for the role, she’s already discovered she has things in common with her character.

“This is only my second role, but I’m learning from my colleagues and other friends of mine that you put a little bit of yourself into each character,” Grace explained. “And just in the bit of research that I’ve been doing leading into pre-production, I’ve learned a lot of things about Barbara that are very in line with me.”

Batgirl is expected to premiere on HBO Max sometime in 2022.